Fly Me to the Moon
by A Karswyll
Summary: Jack is baffled. What do you do for a woman's 40th birthday when she routinely explores alien planets, has blown up a sun, and raced in the Loop of Kon Garat? Give her the moon of course. (Celebrating Sam's Birthday on 29 December.)


**Title**: Fly Me to the Moon  
**Author**: A. Karswyll  
**Rated**: M (FFnet), MA (elsewhere)  
**Words**: 7,085  
**Summary**: Jack is baffled. What do you do for a woman's 40th birthday when she routinely explores alien planets, has blown up a sun, and raced in the Loop of Kon Garat? Give her the moon of course. [Celebrating Sam's Birthday on 29 December.]  
**AN**: Written of course for Sam Carter's birthday so—Happy Birthday Sam!  
The second scene of this short story has been edited to comply with FFnet's rules and guidelines and the full scene is available to read on my samandjack. net and archiveofourown. org accounts.

* * *

**Season 12  
19 December 2008**

Jack stared blankly at the screensaver running on his work computer as he drummed his fingers on the polished wood of his desk. It was Friday afternoon and soon work would be done and he'd be venturing into the crazed world that was Washington celebrating Christmas but even when he left he'd still be mulling over what to do. What to get actually.

Specifically, what gift to get his wife.

Not for Christmas of course, he had Sam's Christmas gift at home, ready and wrapped and under the tree. No, what he still didn't know what to get was for Sam's fortieth birthday in ten days. It ought to be special and memorable, but he couldn't think up anything.

He'd sent a message through the 'gate to Teal'c about it but the big guy had been no help. Teal'c in response had sent a birthday present for Sam and to him, a short handwritten note telling him to 'show her worth to him' or something along those lines. But there wasn't any gift he could think of that would do that. It wasn't easy shopping for an equivalent value gift for a national treasure!

Jack frowned. If there was only paperwork for having her declared a national treasure, like there was paperwork for work. That paperwork he would have done in a snap to get it official. And unlike Reagan had for the voice of the singer Williams, Hayes couldn't exactly declare Sam's brain a national treasure out of the blue when no one knew about her—and given their jobs, wasn't supposed to.

Daniel hadn't been any help either. A meal to a special restaurant or attending a play or opera or musical concert, were all well and good but they'd _done_ those together.

He wanted something special. Something that took effort to do.

Something that no Tom, Dick, or Harry could do for their wife's fortieth birthday.

He stopped drumming his fingers and scrubbed them through his hair. But what?

What the hell do you get for a woman who kicked alien butt for a living that was memorable!

Jack fisted his hand in his hair and tugged, as if pulling on his hair would relieve the frustration in his brain. It never worked of course, so he just sighed and ran his hand down his head and kneaded the tight muscles of his neck.

With another sigh his hand slid off his neck and he turned back to his work. Jiggling the mouse his computer screen lit up to reveal the inbox of his email. His very, very full inbox. And that was after his secretary had already previewed, reviewed, and sorted almost all his mail.

His eyes scanned over the subject lines from various departments and individuals and his eyes alighted on an email from JAXA. It wasn't really from Japan's national aerospace agency, but one of those email notifications about video uploads to that YouTube site that he'd signed up for and then had to put on the approved list to actually reach him. And considering its subject matter and possible relevance to the Program his secretary hadn't fussed over forwarding them—unlike the daily funnies.

It was better than dealing with memos and reports so Jack immediately clicked on the link to see what SELENE was up to. The antics of an inanimate satellite in orbit around the moon were far more interesting than the antics of the paper pushers he had to deal with.

The next few minutes was spent engrossed in watching the live streaming from the satellite's high definition TV as it orbited over the crater and pocket marked landscape of the moon. He couldn't understand diddly-squat of the Japanese narration, and usually had it on mute, but he could certainly appreciate the magnificent desolation.

A smile ghosted over his lips as he remembered his own experiences with the team with scenes of 'magnificent desolation.' There had been that moonscape _tal mak_ world where that metal ball with its damn organisms, that had pinned him to the 'gateroom wall, had come from. Also landing a _teltac_ on an asteroid to ride it through Earth to save the planet—that had been a spectacular view of an 'Earth rise'. Both times they'd got to tramp around in NASA space suits too. Must have fulfilled some dream of Sam's, considering her childhood ambition to be an astronaut and fly a shuttle into space.

Well, she hadn't gotten to fly a shuttle into space but years ago she'd gotten to ride down in one after they'd blown up Apophis's and Klorel's _ha'taks_. And really, now she was flying a spaceship between galaxies which was way cooler.

But he wondered, did she still dream of going to the moon?

Now that was a thought, giving her the moon. Jack shook his head. A crazy thought even for him.

Or was it?

He looked speculatively at the phone on his desk. Well, the worst thing that could happen was Hayes would laugh in his face—which would be a 'no'—and he'd have to start looking for another gift idea.

Picking up the phone he started to dial while singing under his breath, "I'll give you the sun, the rain, the moon, the stars and the mountains..."

. . .

Jack rolled over in bed as the pale light of a winter dawn crept through the bedroom blinds and couldn't help but smiling at the sight that confronted him this morning. His wife. Well, the back of her pretty blonde head but still, Sam was home for the New Year.

He lightly stroked his hand over the long strands of blonde hair that fanned out on the pillow as he remembered her homecoming yesterday and their private celebration of Christmas. Three days after the official holiday true, but it had still been Christmas for them and today, today was her fortieth birthday.

A quick glance at the clock revealed it was well after their usual wake up times, but they both had the day off so as quiet as possible Jack slipped from the bed and did his business in the bathroom. In the bedroom again, he couldn't resist that she was here, home, so he slid back into his still warm spot in the bed beside her.

Contently watching, as more light filled the room Jack couldn't resist the freckles on her shoulder peeking out from the covers. He tugged the blankets down, exposing her shoulder and arm and those delightful freckles, that he began tracing non-sequential patterns upon.

Sam gave a drowsy little grumble and sleepily hitched the covers back up over her exposed shoulder.

He grinned and pulled the covers back down, further this time to expose more of her back, and traced more meandering feather light patterns from freckle to freckle. His fingertips savoured the soft feel of her skin as his eyes appreciated the smooth curve and dimples of her back, something he didn't often get to appreciate.

Another grumpy grumble from Sam and she attempted to burrow into the covers.

Jack didn't totally manage to muffle his chuckle at her reaction as he pushed the covers further down again. The chuckle seemed to do it though, as Sam rolled over at the sound and her sleepy blue eyes looked at him accusingly.

"Happy Birthday sleepy head," Jack couldn't resist those blue eyes even as they glared at him and he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her lips, "and good morning."

Sam's breath sighed across his lips and she grumbled, "If I could sleep in, it would be a good morning."

He chuckled again as he drew back and gazed at her and his hand tucked some of the blonde strands draped across her cheek back behind her ear. "Up and at 'em. Today's a big day for the birthday girl."

She gave a protesting groan and closed her eyes. "No, today's a sleep-in day. Birthday girl says so."

Jack grinned again, or else he hadn't really stopped grinning so his grin just got bigger, and his hand slid down over her arm and pushed the covers down more.

"Jack!" her eyes opened and she glared at him in protest, no looking so sleepy anymore, and grabbed at the blankets.

"Come on Sam," he coaxed and pulled at the blankets covering her again. "Time to get up."

Her blue eyes rolled at him and then, before he could brace himself, she rolled across the mattress on top of him where she settled onto him with a last body squirm. Sam purred down at him, "Okay Jack, I'm up," she rolled her hips against him suggestively, "are you up?"

Jack felt his heart jolt at the wanton suggestion in her voice before his heartbeat settled down into a faster rhythm than before and lust kindled in his groin. He stroked his hands purposely down the length of her back as she lay atop him and drawled, "That depends."

"I don't know," Sam shifted her weight caressingly on him, "you don't feel very up to me."

"You sure about that?" Jack challenged as his hands curved over her rear and savoured the smoothness of her skin. He teasingly stroked the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs and watched as her blue eyes darkened beautifully.

"Hum," she hummed and her dark blues eyes twinkled as she gazed down at him and a saucy smile curved the corner of her lips as one of her hands slipped between the covers and between their bodies. "Maybe I should check and find out shouldn't I?"

. . .

Sam polished off the rest of her birthday breakfast and set the dish down on the table with a contented sigh. Jack whisked it away to the sink where he was in the midst of doing dishes and she took time to appreciate the sight as she sipped the last of her morning coffee. Her husband presented an attractive, and domestic, picture wearing a soft grey t-shirt that moulded nicely to his shoulders and arms and worn jeans that molded just as nicely to his rear.

If she hadn't already jumped his bones this morning when he'd been cajoling her to get out of bed, Sam thought she might find the energy to get off this chair and jump him now. Savouring the last rich taste of the specially prepared breakfast coffee—home roasted and ground and not instant—she reluctantly pushed her chair from the table and crossed to the sink.

"More coffee?" Jack looked over at her, his hands in the soapy dish water.

"No, that's enough for me," Sam shook her head and set the mug beside the sink. It had been delicious and she truly appreciated the effort that Jack had taken to prepare it for her, but she'd had her coffee quota for the morning.

"Let me just finish these up, then we can open presents." A soapy hand emerged from the sink, bubbles decorating the long strong fingers, before hand and mug disappeared back into the water.

Sam bumped her hip against her husband's hip. "You just want to have cake with breakfast." She'd seen said cake, decorated with a 'Happy Birthday Sam' and an astronaut in a spacesuit in icing, in a bakery box in the fridge last night and Jack was always in the mood for cake.

He held up a soapy hand in a two finger salute. "No I don't, scout's honor. Just the presents."

"Presents huh," Sam drawled speculatively as she looked across the open kitchen to the open living room with the Christmas tree set up off to the side of the fireplace. There was still a small mound of presents under the pine branches, items that were all wrapped, or in gift bags, that were all clearly for a birthday.

Since marrying Jack, she hadn't gotten a single birthday gift that had been 'conveniently' wrapped in Christmas wrapping from Mark, Uncle Irving, and others of her family. There was some tale involved, but she knew Jack had played an active role in seeing that happened.

Jack bobbed his head. "Yep. There's ah... one at least that you need to open because of what's going to happen later today."

"You have plans for later?"

He grinned at her. And it was a big impish grin as his dark brown eyes sparkled at her.

Sam couldn't help but smiling in response to his evident excitement and—as the last time she'd seen him that excited he been 'naughty' as Santa would say—she drawled out warningly, "J-a-c-k, what do you have planned?"

"Can't tell you," he teased and drained the sink and wiped his hands dry. "So come on wife, presents!"

She let him herd her across the kitchen into the living room where he seated her on the couch. Like Christmas, it would just be them for her birthday with all her family scattered across the states and beyond into the galaxy.

The first gift presented was a card which held a gift card for an online retailer from Mark and family. A couple more cards with gift cards, like to Starbucks, were presented from others she knew through work.

The first present she unwrapped was Uncle Irving's gift of a black sarong with large red flowers on it. The sarong was much better than last year's touristy gift of a bottle of 'Water of Immortality' from Florida with its lengthy disclaimer that didn't actually promise it would extend one's life.

"No little black bikini to go with it?" Jack asked hopefully.

"No," Sam shook her head and smiled at him as she folded the sarong back up.

"Hey, doesn't hurt a guy to ask. I remember what he sent for our wedding."

Sam groaned and flushed as she too remembered the very, very risqué piece of lingerie her uncle had sent and she'd been obliged to show off to everyone present at the wedding. It was still buried in one her draws and only saw the light of day when Jack dragged it out to tease her with. She just couldn't bring herself to wear it—her uncle had sent it for Heaven's sake! She cleared her throat and said, "Yeah, well, I do think though, that Uncle Irving has now been to all fifty states. I'm just glad he didn't send me one of those plastic _lei_ from Hawaii."

Jack gave her a grin, shrugged and carefully handed her another wrapped gift with colourful balloons and topped by a red ribbon.

Sam took the slender rectangular gift, fourteen by ten inches in size, and smiled over the card from Cassie. She unwrapped the present and looked at the desert watercolour painting done on canvas. It was an explosion of bright warm colours of reds, yellows, gold and desert purples which were colours that were now mostly absent from her life, living in the greys and black aboard _Hammond. _Her eyes grew misty she traced over the signature in the corner of the canvas: _Cassandra Fraiser._

"Wow," Jack admired as he looked at the painting too. "I didn't know she was still painting."

"It's from one of our trips, out in the desert." Sam blinked and lifting her other hand, wiped at her eyes.

"The view?"

Sam nodded and gently set the painting aside, her fingertips lingering over the signature. "I don't know if it has a name, but we went there often. The sunsets..."

Jack leaned towards her and reached out and brushed away a tear that lingered at the corner of her eyes. After a moment, in which she gathered herself together again, he passed her another gift in sparkly paper with '_Happy Birthday!_' scrawled all over it.

The card identified that it was from Daniel and after reading it, she unwrapped the gift to reveal a large book, one of those coffee table ones, of the latest images and discoveries made by the Hubble Space Telescope. Sam flipped the book open and chuckled at the inscription in bold strokes scrawled inside: '_Happy Birthday Sam, Think you can get better shots of these? Have fun out there—and be safe! Love, Daniel.'_

"So, can you?" Jack asked as he leaned forward to get a look at the stellar images—in more ways than one—in the book.

She looked up from a full page spread picture of the Butterfly Nebula. "Can I what?"

"Get better pictures of that?" he pointed at the picture.

Sam grinned. "I do. I just can't share them with anyone."

"Don't want to break their hearts over the puny little pictures their little Hubble telescope takes?" Jack joked.

She chuckled deep in her throat and shook her head over his teasing. "Of course Jack. I'm just too nice," she closed up the book. "It has nothing to do with a matter of national security."

Mockingly Jack tsked and shook his head as he passed over another gift. "Yeah, just too nice for your own good. I do wonder about you sometimes wife, how you manage being so nice."

Sam smiled more over his teasing and accepted the next gift. Even without a card or tag, the fact that it was wrapped in a fine linen cloth instead of birthday decorated wrapping paper or in a gift bag, said that it was from Teal'c. The rich scent of leather was released as she unwrapped the linen and her fingers lingered over the softness of the finely tanned hide. Unfolded, the garment was revealed to be a leather trench-coat like jacket.

"Stand up Sam, let's get a better look at it." Jack advised.

She stood and shook the garment out, revealing that if worn the hem of the jacket would reach past mid-calf. The action shook a piece of paper to the floor. She stooped down, picked it up, and found a short note written on it by Teal'c which she read aloud.

"_Felicitations on your nativity SamanthaCarter. It is tradition that a youth receives the warrior's cape to mark their quarter year but so that you can wear it amongst your people, I elected to gift a coat in place of the cape."_

"No cape? Darn, I can see you wearing one of those." Jack gave her a wolfish grin.

"You just want me wearing one of those skimpy outfits like Ishta's women do." Sam let her fingers linger over the tanned hide and feel along the neatly stitched seams.

He gave an unrepentant shrug and picked up the linen wrapping and began folding it up. "So, T's note called you a 'youth?' Marking your quarter year? That means, what, you're twenty-something in Jaffa years?"

Sam didn't know so she shrugged and folded up the jacket and sat down on the couch again.

"Last one," Jack declared with a gleam in his eye as he passed the last birthday gift under the tree to her.

It was a flat, rectangular shaped gift that was about eight by ten inches and thinner even than the painting by Cassie. After smiling over the sweet message of love and quote from a 90s song Jack had penned in the card, she unwrapped the present to reveal a photograph of the full moon in a simple frame. And dead center of the frame was a bright yellow sticky note that said '_Part 1._'

She turned to her husband with a puzzled look knitting together her brows. "Part 1 Jack? Does this have something to do with our telescope?"

Jack bounced in his seat—literally—and gave her one of his big shit-eating grins. "Nope," popped from his mouth and it looked like he was barely resisting the urge to rub his hands together with glee. "Nothing with the telescope. But you have to change your clothes for this. In your closet is an outfit with another sticky note, got put it on."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. Go, go," he bounced to his feet and made shooing motions towards the stairs.

Reluctant to plunge herself headlong into the evident mischief Jack was planning Sam put the picture of the moon aside with the other gifts and slowly got to her feet.

"Come on, time's a wastin'," he urged her to hurry.

Sam shook her head over his full-throttled enthusiasm she slowly mounted the steps and made her way to their bedroom. In her closet, like he said, on one of her hangers she found another yellow sticky note that read '_Part 2_' on a full set of green BDUs and boots. BDUs that hadn't been there this morning, she was certain.

She changed and carrying the boots in hand, went back downstairs. Downstairs she found that Jack had changed too from his simple t-shirt and jeans into a matching set of green BDUs and he was waiting impatiently in the middle of the living room, rocking back and forth on his booted feet.

"Boots on," Jack prompted and then waited with marked impatience as the footwear was donned. "All set?"

"Yes," Sam agreed.

"Great," his head bobbed in a nod and then he cleared his throat and announced, "Prepare to beam."

She stiffened in surprise as white light illuminated her torso and then washed around them and she felt that faint familiar buzz in her skin from molecular transportation. When her vision cleared she found herself on the grey toned bridge of a ship. The smell of recycled air circulating greeted her nose but the scent wasn't precisely like her ship so even before her gaze fixed on the balding colonel before her she knew she wasn't onboard _Hammond_.

"General O'Neill, Colonel Carter," Colonel Davidson greeted, "welcome aboard _Odyssey_."

Jack bobbed his head again and rocked back on his heels. "Good to be here. We still on in the conference room?"

"Yes Sir. If you would like an escort?"

Jack waved the offer away. "Nah, Carter should know where it is."

"Very well Sir," Davidson inclined his head respectfully.

Jack gave her an expectant look. "Carter? Conference room?"

Sam automatically inclined her head in response. While the BC-304 technical schematics differed slightly from ship to ship reflecting technological advancements at each time of ship manufacture, their layouts were not different and neither were their naming systems. Setting off from the bridge, she charted them through the ship to the conference room and all the while her mind was furiously trying to deduct what her husband was up to.

"Sir, what is this about?" Sam said lowly over her shoulder.

"Be patient Carter, you'll know soon."

She entered the conference room and found it filled with the engineering and science crew of the ship with one familiar face, that of Captain Jennings. They stood at attention when she entered the room but when Jack sauntered in behind her, they really snapped to attention.

"At ease," Jack waved them down in his usual nonchalant way and ushered her to an empty chair, with a briefing packet before it, before he took a chair as well. He picked up the briefing packet expectantly and looked at the man at the head of the table. "Major Ashford, I understand you are in charge of this? If we aren't waiting for anyone else from _Odyssey_, then begin."

"Yes Sir. I mean, no Sir, we are all present." The gangly black haired major bobbed his head, his prominent Adams's apple bobbing as markedly as his head. Then, after another prominent clearing of his throat, he launched into the briefing in full detail.

It became very clear to Sam, after skimming the packet and listening to only a few lines from Major Ashford, that this briefing was about the final field tests of the XST-40 skin-tight space suits that were advance dual space and pressure suits. The versatile XST-40 were to replace both the separate suits for the F-306 pilots and the BC-304 maintenance crew and importantly, save pilot lives if a pilot was forced to eject into the vacuum of space.

Important, and a development she'd been following closely, but she still didn't know why they were here, especially on a day when they both were on official leave.

She sat up and took note then when it became clear that Major Ashford expected her and Jack to be testing the suit. Keeping her face suitable blank otherwise, she cast a quick look at Jack from the corner of her eye. Her husband did not look surprised at all by the news. He was in fact looking rather pleased.

When addressed by Major Ashford, she blinked, but otherwise responded promptly and articulately. There were a few more exchanges between herself, and other crew involved in the field evaluation, before the briefing closed and everyone bustled off to their stations.

Sam leaned over the chair arm and hissed lowly, "Sir! What is going on?"

"Like Ashford said Sam," Jack replied patiently with a small grin, "we're going to be trying out the XST-40s."

"Jack!"

Under the table his hand moved and unobtrusively settled on her knee. "Relax Sam. I'm not abusing my position or anything, this is all above board and while yeah, technically we're usurping someone else's job it is still a job that has to get done."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," he affirmed calmly as he gave her knee a reassuring squeeze. "Hayes did say he was amazed at my audacity, but he gave it a go."

"The President knows about this?" Sam was surprised her voice didn't crack in her amazement.

"Of course. I'm not just going to appropriate government equipment for my own entertainment," he denied.

"I don't know about that," Sam returned lowly as she covertly glowered at him, "I've heard rumors of golfing through the 'gate."

"Never happened Carter. At least—not really." He gave her a sly and self-satisfied smile as he gave her knee another squeeze and then let go. "Now, let's go with the good Captain Jennings and get suited up."

Sam pushed her chair from the table and followed Jennings and Jack from the room to the bay where the black coloured suits and monitoring equipment and other assorted scientific gear were awaiting them.

As she was assisted into the XST-40 suit she found it ironic that like her first, and to date only, spacewalk years ago to deal with the Ori supergate, Jennings was again in charge of getting her suited up. The suit was designed so that one individual could don the suit unaided, but all the sensors attached inside and outside meant it was best that she was assisted in.

Flipping her braid over her shoulder so it hung down the center of her back Sam bent her head for the helmet, that looked more like a relation to a motorcycle racing helmet than a NASA space helmet, to be put on and sealed up. She heard the muffled hiss from the sealing rings locking and straightened her head she was pleased that the helmet's environment sound system was already engaged as she could hear no difference between wearing the helmet and not wearing the helmet.

She and Jack stood beside each other, waiting as the technicians performed one last sensor check, and she could see the gleam in his eyes from behind the gold tinted visor of his helmet.

"Ready Carter? Part 2 down, onto Part 3," his voice issued cheerily through the radio.

Part 3? This was all part of her birthday gift?

Major Ashford announced, "Initiating transport."

White light illuminated their torsos and her skin buzzed from the molecular transportation. Feeling her feet sinking a bit into something soft she was aware of the absolute silence around her as she blinked the last of the transport light from her vision. Through the visor, laid out before her was the light and dark grey expanse of the mares and cratered marked surface of the moon. Beyond the horizon was the deep black of space and the stars that burned with a steady light without an atmosphere to cause them to twinkle.

And absolute silence.

No radio chatter, no noise from the form fitting suit and its equipment like the oxygen tanks that rode on her back like a half backpack, and certainly nothing from the still environment around her.

No sound but her breathing.

A surprise crunching noise broke the silence.

Sam swung her head around, almost tipping herself over she was so light, and found Jack had stepped toward her and left behind sharp footprints in the gritty dust that coated the surface of the moon. Like the iconic footprints of the _Apollo 11_ astronauts thirty-nine years ago that print would remain forever on the un-weathered surface of the moon if no space phenomenon, like an asteroid strike, wiped it out.

It would of course, also drive Earth's lunar exploration community absolute bonkers if they happened to come across it. Here in the Mare Ingenni, the sea of cleverness, where no manned mission to the moon had landed or satellite had crashed were perfect human-looking footprints. So it was a darn good thing they'd covered in the briefing that they were doing the equivalent of sandblasting this area after these tests! Another reason the test was happening on the far side of the moon, away from sites that NASA regarded as lunar heritage sites. Wouldn't do to accidentally dust those out of existence.

Jack lifted his hand and swiped it out across the desolate lunar vista. "Part 3 Sam. The last part."

She looked back out over the view, her gaze lingering over the dips and swells as half her mind worked on identifying the features of the moon from this unique perspective. The other half of her mind was busy putting things together. First Jack had given her a card quoting an old song by the Edmonds' brothers and a photograph of the moon. Then it appeared he'd arranged for them to test the XST-40 suits and here they were. That seemed to be more of a means to an end than really part of gift though if standing on the surface of the moon was the last part.

That meant here—on the moon—was the ultimate goal.

"Jack," Sam drawled and made certain her tone was of a wife addressing her husband and not a subordinate addressing a superior officer.

He held up a gloved finger. "_Odyssey_, testing the private radio channel for the next five minutes."

"_Yes Sir,"_ issued through the broadband radio.

He punched one of the buttons on his wrist controller and she did the same and switched the radio to direct two-way between them.

She was relieved that the conversation would be private, that he'd even thought of it, as she repeated. "Jack, I'll ask again, what is this about?"

"You can't tell?" he asked.

"Oh, I have a guess. But Jack, really, tell me what this is about."

He spread his hands out in front of himself and said in a simple, hopeful voice, "Happy Birthday."

Sam closed her eyes and took a steadying breath before opening them again. "Tell me this isn't... this isn't just for that."

"Okay, I won't," he obliged.

She swallowed back the groan that threatened but wasn't entirely successful as some of it escaped from her throat and was transmitted by the radio.

Jack sighed audibly in response as he bent down and picked up a lunar rock. Straightening up he stepped up beside her. "I told you, this is all above board. Not the best looking being done by us as opposed to someone of the development crew I will admit, but... anyway, Happy Birthday Sam." He took her gloved hand in his and placed the lunar rock in her palm, "Go, enjoy your present."

She looked down at the gloved hand holding her own and the lunar rock that sat in her palm and didn't know whether to continue berating him or just give in. "So my present is a moonwalk?"

"Well, Hayes wouldn't actually let me give you the moon, so yeah, you have to settle for a moonwalk."

"The moon," she repeated incredulously as she looked up from the rock in her palm into his face through the visors. "You wanted to give me the moon?"

"Yeah, it was the only thing big enough to suit that I could think of." He shrugged his shoulders in the suit and then joked, "Couldn't give you the sun after all, not after what you did with the last one."

Sam rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she'd blown up Vorash's sun on her own. But still, wow. Jack had wanted to give her the moon? She closed her hand around the moon rock, just feeling the gritty edges through the protective glove, and even though she couldn't believe what her husband had done, she couldn't find it in her heart to continue berating him.

She was on the moon.

She, Samantha Carter, who had thought she'd never get into space after the space shuttle _Challenger _disaster was _standing on the moon_. _The moon_. In the history of Earth only twelve other people had walked where she now stood.

And standing beside her was not only the man that made it possible but the man that meant everything to her.

"Jack," her voice was so husky she had to take a breath and clear her throat, "thanks."

He reached out and rested a hand on the shoulder of her suit, a subtle press through the fabric. "You're welcome."

Their radios beeped and she knew their five minutes of private conversation were up. Switching the radios back over to accepting _Odyssey's_ band she squared her shoulders in her suit, tightened her gloved grip on the moon rock, and proceeded to put the XST-40s through a rigorous field testing.

And if that testing involved gigantic leaps and spins over the surface of the moon that had her heart soaring with giddy joy, well, who was to say that the testing wasn't necessary to push the full mobility of the suit?

Gently drawn down by the gentle gravity after another bouncing moon walk she sunk into the dust covered surface of the moon and cast an amused look at Jack who was tramping sharp patterns into the lunar dust.

Like her suit certainly was, he was coated up to his knees in the gritty grey dirt of the moon and his gloves to elbows were similarly caked. Quite a contrast to the black colour of the suit and made it look like he'd been crawling around on his hands and knees.

Bouncing up and over to him, her eyes widened as she got a view from above of what exactly her husband was busy pressing into the moon dust like a kid making designs in snow. An iconic little drawing of a cartoon head peeking over a wall with three equally iconic words. "Jack! You didn't!"

His helmet tipped up towards her as he stamped the last letter out. "What?"

"'Kilroy was here'?"

"I just had to do it," he said as he stood back and admired his rendition of the famous WWII graffiti. "And it's not like anyone's going to see it with us wiping the area down."

There was no visual recording tech on their suits but Sam had a sneaking suspicion that an awful lot of photographs were being taking by the _Odyssey_ right now. Maybe even video. Especially in light of the fact that the protocol for the moonwalk, and any such tests in the future, was to essentially sandblast the area with vacuumed up dust from the moon and wipe out traces of their presence.

But if her husband wasn't thinking of pictures and video, she wouldn't mention it. She might drop a word with the comm officer though; see if she couldn't get copies to pass it around to Daniel and Teal'c and a few others. They'd probably believe her, knowing Jack, but evidence was always best!

She tapped the watch on her wrist controller. "Almost time to transport back. One last leap around?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah, I got a better idea. The techs won't be too happy with us, getting more of this grit on the suits but, what the hell."

Sam thought if the techs wouldn't be happy by his definition, it probably meant they'd really want to kill them. "What's your idea?"

"Snow angels. Well, moon angels really," he replied promptly.

She was right, the techs would want to kill them. The only reason they probably weren't verbally killing them right now over the radio was that no one could bring themselves to yell at the commander of Homeworld Command. She was incredulous herself, and that was saying something after the events of the day. "Moon angels?"

"Come on, everyone's walked on the moon but no one's made angels on the moon. And really, the air tanks need strength testing."

"Really, this is about testing the air tanks."

"Of course, they've been working properly but would they still work if they get bumped around or something? In the interest of thorough testing and the advancement of science."

Sam just had to shake her head. She had read some of the testing the air tanks had gone under and thirty-five pounds—Jack's weight on the moon—resting on it was measly compared to the thousands of pound of pressure it been subjected to under Earth's gravity before even being included in the suits. "Just furthering the advancement of science are we?"

Jack nodded and rocked back on his heel, gritty dirt grinding under his boots.

She couldn't see clearly through his visor, the angle was wrong, but she just knew he was looking at her with that expectant little-boy look of his. Looking down at her hand and the lunar rock she was still holding she made a decision. It was a lame and shallow excuse, but, as Jack said, what they hell. "In the interest of science then."

"Really?" he sounded surprised.

"Certainly," she nodded and tipped back on her heels and floated gently down to sink into the dust of the lunar surface on her back. She was more aware of, than heard, Jack flop down beside her.

She stared for a long moment at the black expanse of space with its background of steady white stars and off to the side and the looming form of the BC-306 flagship and then, spread out her arms and legs and, careful to keep the giddy laughter held back in her throat, began making a snow angel in the dust of the moon. As her legs and arms swept back and forth she listened to the gritty shushing for long enchanted moments. Then, careful to disturb the angel as little as possible she climbed back onto her feet and then assisted Jack to his.

Sam admired the two angles in the grey lunar dirt as she stood beside Jack again. He'd been right, it had been childish, but incredibly satisfying to do that. Looking at him her breath caught as she saw him so picturesquely framed against the moon's distant horizon. Then, as she heard "_Initiate retrieval transport_" in her ear, she saw the the white light of the transport beam filled his torso and turn him into a luminous lunar being before the transport took them both.

Her skin buzzed as her feet settled on the metal floor of the bay and she felt incredibly heavy back in the artificial Earth-strength gravity of the ship after the hours of eighty-three percent reduced gravity on the moon.

As expected the techs looked a bit murderous, the lunar dust was going to be hell to clean off the suits after all and said suits were practically covered in the fine grit, but they were assisted out with a minimal of a mess.

When a young tech handed back the lunar rock Jack had given her, the young woman gave it back with a shy smile. Sam took it back with a nod and a sudden understanding that apparently, if not all, at least some of the _Odyssey_ crew was in on the motive behind this moonwalk. She kept a good, but discrete, grip on it as they moved to the conference room for a short and engaging debriefing with Major Ashford and crew. When the debriefing concluded they made their way to the bridge.

Sam thought Colonel Davidson had a bit of a twinkle in his eyes and was pretty sure he'd witnessed all of her husband's and, in the end, her antics on the moon. As Davidson and Jack exchanged a few words, she took the opportunity to slide towards the comm officer, Lieutenant Stewart, and murmured innocently, "I look forward to the data being transmitted to me."

The young man gave her a startled look that she just smiled innocently at and tapped the top of his console. "I'm sure the pictures of the moon must be just fascinating."

A startled look of understanding appeared in his eyes and he gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Yes ma'am, the pictures are... fascinating."

"Wonderful," she beamed. "Can't wait."

"Hey Carter," Jack called from behind, "ready to go?"

Sam straightened up, stepped back, and turned and faced him. "Yes Sir."

"Good. Davidson, on your mark then?"

Davidson nodded and turned to his crew. "Initiate transport."

For the fourth time that day she felt the transport buzz and when her vision cleared they were standing in their living room again. Everything was still the same, with the pile of birthday gifts still on the couch and a piece of her final gift held tight in her hand. Holding up her hand she opened her fingers and gazed down at the grey and otherwise nondescript rough rock that would command a fortune if anyone knew it was from the moon.

Jack stepped up behind her and his chin settled on her shoulder and arms slipped around her and he murmured against her ear, "Happy Birthday."

She leaned back into him with a soft glowing smile on her face and she knew the prefect way she was going to memorialize this birthday gift. The photograph of the moon and lunar rock Jack had given her were going to go together in a shadow box and be hung in their living room. Most people wouldn't understand it, but she would know that it marked her fortieth birthday and the year Jack had given her the moon.

-FINISHED


End file.
